Conductor-bar holder



. FJRAAB FILED SEPT- 20, 1922.

a f." as

' Jan, 2,

lh ldht itd HENRY F. RAAB, OF JOHNSTOWN, JPIENNSYLV'ANI-A.-

CONDUCTOR-BAR HOLDER.

Application filed September 20, 1922. Serial No. 589,320. I

T all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY F. RAAB, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city of Johnstown, county of Cambria,

and State of'Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Conductor-Bar Holders; and I do hereby declarethefollowing to-be a'full', clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enablerothersiskilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same.

My invention relates to means for holding electrical conducting barsused for conveying electric current to the motors of electric travelingcranes or the motors of cars or other somewhat similar devices whichmove along their tracks.

The conductor bar, to which the electric current is supplied from anyconvenient source, is mounted in my holder and extends substantiallyparallel to the movement of the car, crane or the trolley thereof, andalthough I will refer herein toa conductor bar, for the purpose ofsimplicity of description I wish it to be understood that I may use anynumber of conductor bars held by my holders, arranged in a groupsubstantially parallel with each other. My holder consists essentiallyof a grooved or channelshaped member, the flanges of which extendintegrally from each edge of the bottom or web member at substantiallyright angles thereto and one of the flanges is secured to any convenientsupport while the other flange serves as a support and abutment for theconductor bar. The conductor bar, which may be of a rectangular section,is inserted within the holder with a portion of its side adjacent to theinner surface of one flange of the holder, and to secure it in placeclamping. member of length slightly "eater than the distance from theinner vce-of the conductor barto the inner angle of the holder islocated with. one'of its edges against the conductor and the other insaid angle. This clamping member preferably provided with a hole, and athreaded bolt'is passed through said hole and the support and anut-screwed on the end of the bolt serves to hold the clamping memberfirmly against the conductor, and by screwing up the nut, a wedgingaction is produced due to the inclination of the clamping member, sothat the conductor bar is very firmly held in position without thenecessity of any hole or bolts therethrough. This is a very simple andetficient construction, and allows the conductor bar to be placed inposition and removed and replaced with a minimum amount of time, expenseand labor.

Havingthus given a general. description of my invention, Iwill now, inorder. to make the matter more clear, refer to the annexed sheet ofdrawings which form part at this specification and in which likecharacters of reference refer to like parts.

Figure l 'is a detail view showing a portion of the bridge of atraveling crane illustrating'the application of my invention; Figure 2is a perspective view of-th'e conductor bar support; Figure 3'" is aperspective view of'the clamping member; Figure 4: is a detailed endelevation of the conductor bar support and clamp and the collector shoe,the conductor bar being shown in cross section; Figure 5 is atop planview of the parts shown in Figure, 4, the insulating blocks for theconductor bar holder and collector shoe being shown in cross section.

Referring now to the characters of reference on the drawings :1 is aportion of the trolley of an electric traveling crane which is mountedon the girder 2, which girder is provided with the bracket 3 securedthereto, having an upwardly extending angle t mounted thereon. Securedto the angle 4 is the insulator block 5, to which my grooved orchannel-shapedconductor bar supports 6 secured by nieans'ot the bolts 7,which passthrough the bl'oclz' 5 and through the holes 8, of thelongerflange' of the conduc tor bar supports, The inner; longer legofthe conductor bar support is 9, and; the shorter leg of same is 10.Although the legs or flanges 9 and 10 are shownof'ditterent lengths theymay also be of the same length itdesired. In the lower or 'web-portionoff support a square hole 11 is provided and ti ough this is'winserted thecarriage bolt 12, "1- ving square ended shank fitting in the square holeto prevent it from turning. A clamping member 13 is provided and this ispreferably of bent form as shown. in order to provide a proper seat forthe nut 15 and {this clamp is provided with a central hole facing thegrooved supporting member and particularly the web portion thereof. Itwill thus be seen that in addition to being inclined or slightly slopingin such a way as to produce a powerful toggle action forsecuring theconductor bar in position when thev nut is screwed tightly, my clampingmember is bent and of arch form so that it is very strong and not liableto be bent when screwed up tightly. By reason of this bent and arch formand the proportions of the parts my clampingmember cannot be bent, butwill maintainits shape and still act as va'toggle to secure theconductor bar in position. .A bracket 16 is mounted on the trolley 1.,and provided with an insulating block 17 secured thereto, on which thecollector shoes 18 are mounted as illustrated. The conductor barsare 19,and these are preferably formed of rectangular shape, as illustrated,The collector shoes 18 are provided withenlarged ends 20, eachprovidedwith a hole therethrough through which the bolt 21 passes to pivotallysecure these shoes to the insulating block 17. 22 are the electricalcircuit connections,v and 23am the terminals thereof which-are securedto thecollector shoes 18, by the bolts i 1 Assuming that the parts arein position as illustrated, particularly-in- Figure 4 of the drawingsand it is desired to remove a conductor'bar, the nuts 15 are unscrewedthe clamping members 13 are lifted up, and the conductor bar can at oncehe removed. In order to replace the same, thebar is set in the positionillustrated in Figure 4:, the

clamping member 13 and the bolts 12 are put in position, the nuts 15 arescrewed down; whereupon the clamp 13 by reason of its diagonal positionand length wedges itself firmly against the conductor bar which istherefore firmly and frictionally held in position thereby.

v Although I have shown and described my invention in considerabledetail, I do not wishto be limited to the exact and specific detailsthereof, as, shown and described, but

bar and its other opposite edge in contact with the surfacesformingtheaopp'osite interlor angle of said groove, and means for clamping thesamev firmly in position,

2. A conductor b'ar holder comprising agrooved member, a conductor barmounted against one side of said groove, a bent i cllned clamping memberWltll 1ts concave side facing the grooved member, extending diagonallyfrom the opposite interior angle of said groove vto the inner surface ofsaid conductor bar, and means for clamping the same firmly in position.

3.. A conductorbar support'comprising a channel-shaped supporting memberwith projecting flanges, a conductor bar mounted within the sameadjacent to one of the flanges, a clamping member comprising a bentplate, with its concave side facing the supporting member, one edge ofwhich contac'ts with the conductor bar, with-its other edge inthe,interior angle of the supporting member opposite saidbar, and means forsecuring the same firmly in position.-

1. A conductor bar support comprising a member provided with a groove, aconductor bar located against one of the sides of said groove, aclamping member of bent form, oneportion of which is substantiallyparallel with the bottom, of said groove, and with an inclined portionextending. integrally therefrom and contacting with the surface of theinterior angle of said. groove opposite said conductor bar, registering.holes insaid supporting member and clamping member,

a boltpassing there-through and a nuton said bolt adapted to firmlysecure the clamping member in position againstsaid conductor bar bywedging action.

5. A grooved conductor support, a con ductor bar located. thereinagainst oneside of said groove, a bentelamping member be-. tween theconductor bar and the other side of said groove, with its concave sidefacing said grooved support, said clamping member being diagonallyarranged and with its edges contacting with said conductor bar and saidsupporting member respectively, and-means for drawing said clampingmember toward the bottom of said groove,-where- Cir groove, the concaveside 01" said olani eing member facing said grooved irern er, and meansfor dra Wing the clamping member toward the bottom of the groove;whereby a powerful Wedging action is provided to secure the bar in theholder.

In Witness whereof I hereunto afhx my signature.

HENRY F. RAAB.

